The FCC's Latest Broadband Map

The latest broadband map created by the FCC shows large portions of the United States without access to high-speed internet service. Revealed to the public Friday, the newest version of the nation's broadband map shows broad areas of Alaska, Arizona, Idaho, Nevada, Montana and Texas without access to 3G or faster mobile broadband coverage.

While nearly every state in the union has sections of land without 3G service, rural western regions are clearly some of the areas least served.  The map is perhaps the FCC's best argument for rapid implementation of its Connect America Fund, as each of the under-served areas are eligible for assistance through the program.

"As our new map demonstrates, millions of Americans still live, work, and travel in areas where advanced mobile networks have not been built out," FCC Chair Julius Genachowski said. "Through the FCC's Connect America Fund, we're helping complete our nation's wired and wireless infrastructure, which will lead to job creation, economic growth, and innovation in the 21st century."

The map is made with data current as of January 2012. This version of the FCC's map shows the areas identified as potentially eligible for Mobility Fund Phase 1 support. These areas are US Census blocks that lack 3G or better mobile coverage at the centroid of the block according to American Roamer data.

For additional information, click here.

Vast Support for Unlicensed Spectrum

The NCTA, NTCA, Google and nearly 100 other entities signed a letter to House and Senate leaderships Monday urging lawmakers to maintain FCC flexibility with regards to unlicensed spectrum usage. The coalition, consisting of corporate and public interests, trade associations and others, said as Congress considers upcoming spectrum legislation, it must ensure the regulatory agency has authority and freedom to make more spectrum available for diverse uses and users.

In the letter, the groups say of particular importance is keeping some the so-called "beachfront" spectrum (located in TV bands) free for unlicensed services to drive innovation, promote rural broadband and create new wireless opportunities. "Compromise legislation should include language that gives the FCC clear flexibility to make appropriate spectrum allocation decisions that support vibrant wireless competition" while including "provisions that preserve the FCC's authority to respond to changes in (the) market."

The coalition wrote that under the current system, the FCC has successfully found a nice balance between licensed and unlicensed spectrum access while raising more than $50B for the U.S. Treasury and driving commercial wireless revenue to $150B annually. The group said the FCC's use of "flexible authority" has simultaneously created an unlicensed industry that generates $50B each year for the economy and helped America become a leader in wireless technology.

Other interests that signed on to the letter include: Microsoft, the Consumers Union, National Alliance for Media Arts & Culture, Public Knowledge, and more. •

Etc.: Google Upgrades YouTube - Cable Growth Looms - Programming Impacts Adoption?

WebTV: Over the weekend Google announced it would soon make some major upgrades to YouTube and its plans for GoogleTV. Details at the company blog. Soon after, reports suggested the company is in the middle of a $120M construction project for a new testing facility. Read about the "Google Experience Center." --- AllThingsD says Amazon is recruiting execs to head up its original content arm: People's Production Company. According to posted job descriptions, the company wants help developing content for "online and traditional distribution." Traditional? Hmmm...

Strategy: "As much as 10% growth in subscription fees over the next five years will be fueled by significant renewal increases at ESPN, Turner and Discovery in 2013," says MediaPost. Citing research from Morgan Stanley analyst Ben Swinburne, the pub says sports nets and retrans will account for almost 1/2 of all industry subscription fees in 2015 (up from 27% in 2000). Read more. --- Comcast opened a new Xfinity retail store in Houston and some say it looks like an Apple store. Local reports from Texas shed some light. --- In other news from the Lone Star state, Suddenlink started notifying subscribers of looming broadband usage caps. Reports say customers will have to pay $10 for every 50-gigs over the limit.

M&A: U.S. regulators approved Google's $12.5B bid for Motorola Mobility just hours after the search giant won clearance in Europe. (Google still needs approval from China, Taiwan and Israel before the deal becomes complete.) --- Insight Communications renewed its franchise agreement with the City of Louisville for $3.5M. The new contract would clear the way for its $3B sale to Time Warner Cable sometime during the next couple months. Reports say TWC will have to negotiate its own franchise with the city, but Insight's deal was integral to completing the proposed sale and transfer of Insight systems. --- Vodafone is said to be considering a potential bid for British fiber operator Cable & Wireless World. Bloomberg has more.

In Court: Apple added a handful of new devices to its patent infringement claims against Samsung. The company said despite its initial lawsuit, "Samsung continues to flood the market with copycat products." Bloomberg has the story. --- According to SEC documents, Netflix paid $9M to settle a class-action lawsuit accusing the company of violating the federal Video Privacy Protection Act. Details here.

Deals: AT&T and Starz Entertainment renewed their multiplatform U-verse TV affiliation agreement. The extension covers Starz Entertainment's premium channels, HD, on-demand, and authenticated online services. --- AT&T Adworks signed a licensing agreement with TiVo for the set-top maker to incorporate anonymous data from U-verse subs into its audience measurement and research services. The deal enables TiVo to factor non-DVR homes into its data for the first time.

Footprint: Verizon launched FiOS TV in Medford, MA.

Sports: NYP has an interesting story about how President Richard Nixon told the NFL that he would block any legislation that would have lifted regular-season game blackouts if the league would allow playoff games to be aired locally. Read more.

Online: Myspace says since launching its new music player, 1M new users have signed up for accounts... averaging 40K daily? --- Songs from NBC's new series "Smash" are now available on iTunes.

Mobile: Comcast added text messaging to its Xfinity mobile app for iOS and Android devices. --- AT&T seems to have found a couple new ways to irk its customers this week. First came reports that the telco giant is employing data caps to its network's top data users (aka the dreaded 'throttling.') Read that story here. Then, the company followed up that news with an "effective immediately" doubling of handset upgrade charges. --- 2012 is going to be the year of location-based services... Or, mobile advertising stemming from such services, that is. AdWeek has the story.

Programming: What does programming have to do with broadband adoption? More than you may think... especially if you're talking about 'public purpose content.' What's that? Read more at MMTC's Broadband Social Justice. --- Veria Living is debuting a new exercise program "BollyFit" mixing cardio workouts with Bollywood dance moves. --- DIRECTV is celebrating Black History month with the premiere of "More Than A Dream," an original documentary about the civil rights movement and the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The documentary is narrated by Martin Sheen and features General Colin L. Powell, USA (Ret.), Congressman John Lewis (D-GA) and sportscaster James Brown. --- Disney Junior ordered a 3rd season of "Jake and the Never Land Pirates."

Over, Up & Under: The EU granted Google unconditional regulatory approval of its planned $12.5B buy of Motorola Mobility. --- Thanks to a late-season surge of sales, the number of Freeview HD consoles in the U.K. has reached 4.4M. Research firm Barb says more than 2M HHs are using the device regularly, and 90% of all connected TVs sold in the UK are Freeview HD sets. --- The Iranian gov't has started restricting internet access to its citizens including personal email accounts and search sites like el Google. Read more. --- Penthouse Digital Media expanded its HD footprint in Europe with the launch of PenthouseHD on Deutsche Telekom's IPTV platform Entertain.

Labor: Time Warner Cable is said to be cutting as many as 155 jobs by May when it closes a call center in Albany, NY.

People: Veteran NFL analyst Pat Kirwan has joined CBSSports.com.

Events: The Hollywood Radio and Television Society (HRTS) will present the Cable Programming Summit (March 7) focusing on "current and future trends in cable programming."  The event features David Janollari, Head of Programming, MTV; Kate Juergens, EVP, Programming & Development, ABC Family; Joel Stillerman, EVP, Original Programming, Production and Digital Content, AMC; Michael Wright, EVP, Head of Programming, TNT, TBS, TCM; and Carmi Zlotnik, Managing Director, Starz Media. Billy Bush, Anchor of "Access Hollywood" and Co-Host of "Access Hollywood Live," will moderate. --- SCTE Canadian Summit 2012 will be March 27-28 in Toronto, ON. This year’s event "examines the impact of integrating new technologies into existing cable infrastructures." Also, the SCTE Wireless Symposium on (3/26) is a pre-conference event covering wireless topics such as LTE, WiFi 101, backhaul, Canadian regulatory environment, and wireline convergence.

Ha!: A new survey, as part of a promo for NatGeo's new series "Doomsday Preppers" (Tuesday, 9pm ET), asked what would you most likely do if you thought the world would end tomorrow? Answer: 27% said they would "resolve feuds with loved ones." 24% said "have sex." --- And in true Valentine's Day fashion, a new Asurion survey says 30% of Americans believe their cell phone "is more helpful to them than their significant other." Reasons given? Cell phones are "more entertaining," "have an 'off button'," and "never talk back."

Ooops!:  In yesterday's Evening BRIDGE we wrote about a Cablevision promotion for subscribers in the New York area. An editing error cut out the fact that the promotion ran only through January (and, according to the folks at Cablevision the offer, available only to new subscribers, "is not likely to return."). Our sincere apologies!

--- Catch today's media market news in The Evening BRIDGE. •